Mechanism for addressing and applying postage stamps to mailing pieces



Dec. 5, 1950 E F JOHNSON 2,532,366

MECHANISM EoE ADDRESSING AND APPLYING POSTAGE STAMPS T0 MAILING PIECES Filed Dec. 18, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

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FOR POSTAGE ST MECHANISM Filed Dec. 18, 1947 Dec. 5, 1950 ATTORNEY. l

Dec. 5, 1950 E. F. OHNSON 2,532,366

MECHANISM FOR A RESSING AND APPLYING POSTAGE STAMPS TO MAILING PIECES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 18, 1947 HI fi' llllllll-l 2!- UllIlIlIllIl-llllllll V h I H NVETO. lwrffifa/zzzsazz,

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Dec. 5, 1950 E. F. JOHNSON 2,532, MECHANISM FOR ADD SING APPLY POSTAGE STAMPS MAIL PIECE FiledDec. 18, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig. 10.

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Dec. 5,- 1950 E. F. JOHNSON 2,532,

MECHANISM FOR ADD SING AND APPLYING- POSTAGE STAMPS MAILING PIECES Filed Dec. 18, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 mull, '1 0 wmummull h V INVENTOR.

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Patented Dec. 5, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MECHANISM FOR ADDRESSING AND APPLY- ING POSTAGE STAMPS TO MAILING PIECES Evert F. Johnson, Oil City, Pa., assignor to The Pennzoil Gompany, Oil City, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 18, 1947, Serial No. 792,47

l 3 Claims. This application is a continuation in part of my copending parent application, Serial No. 777,203, filed October 1, 1947, which relates to apparatus for effecting systematized customer notification service, the apparatus including, inter alia, a mechanism for applying an address and a postage stamp to a mailing piece and a record card (which forms the subject of my co-pending application, Serial No. 734,912) cooperative with the mechanism and with the mailing piece. The term mailing piece is defined in my parent application, and herein, as comprehending post cards, pamphlets and folders to be directly stamped and addressed and envelopes containing mail matter, each of which items has the usual spaces for the postage stamp and the address.

The invention relates to improvements in the mechanism for applying the address and the postage stamp to the mailing piece; and also to improvements in the specific features of correlation, in an operative capacity, between the record card and said mechanism. The record card includes a panel of stencil material and the address applying element of th mechanism includes features which cooperate with the panel.

The principal objects are to provide for automatically setting the mechanism in operation by the insertion in proper relation to it of a unit composed of a record card and an associated mailing piece, to provide for the automatic cooperation of the mechanism with the unit in the application to the mailing piece of the address and the stamp, to provide for the automatic transfer of the unit and the address and stamped mailing piece to delivery position such that the record card and mailing piece may be removed by the clerk and to provide for the automatic resetting oi the elements of the mechanism to normal position in which they remain inactive and in readiness for the insertion of another record card and mailing piece whereupon the cycle of operations is automatically repeated.

The mechanism is preferably mounted within a cabinet which encloses an automatic follow-up card file holding and designating machine and other elements of the apparatus (all shown and described in detail in my said parent application, Serial No. 777,233)v lhe elements of the mechanism are accordingly shown in the drawings in connection with such cabinet.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the cabinet with its cover elements in closed position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the cabinet with its cover elements in open position and the drawer element (which carries the mechanism for applying the address and stamp to the mailing piece) in its outer or open position.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a record card with an associated mailing piece shown in broken lines, the record card and the mailing piece being shown as combined as a unit and in readiness for insertion in operative relation to the address and stamp applying mechanism.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the record card and associated mailing piece as inserted into operative relation to the address and stamp applying mechanism, parts of the mechanism being shown in horizontal section in the plane i-t of Figure 6, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a diagram of the circuit for the operation of the address and stamp applying mechanism.

Figure 6 is a view in front elevation of the drawer element and the address and stamp applying mechanism as mounted within it, the drawer element being partly broken awayto show details of the mechanism and a hinged panel of the drawer element being shown in open position) Figure '7 is a side elevation of the address and stamp applying mechanism as mounted in the drawer element, the latter being shown in vertical longitudinal section.

Figure 8 is a rear elevation of the address and stamp applying mechanism.

Figure 9 is a detail vertical longitudinal sectional view of the address and stamp applying mechanism in the plane -9 of Figure looking in the direction of the arrows, this figure showing more particularly various features of th address applying element of the mechanism.

Figure 10 is a detail vertical longitudinal sectional view of the address and stamp applying mechanism in the plane IE3-! ll of Figure 6, looking in the direction of the arrows, this figure showing more particularly various features of the stamp applying element of the mechanism.

Figure 11 is a detail horizontal sectional view in the plane I l--l l of Figure 6, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 12 is a perspective view of a supporting plate for various elements of the mechanism with certain parts also shown in perspective.

Figure 13 is an elevation of certain gear elements employed in the operation of the mechanism with certain parts shown in full lines and other related parts indicated in broken lines.

The cabinet 0 includes a rectangular body I having side, front and rear walls, a rectangular bottom supporting flange 2, and a cover composed of elements 3 and G hinged to the rear and front walls respectively, normally closed as indioated in Figure l and having open positions as shown in Figure 2, the element 4 in open position serving as a desk. The cabinet includes a drawer element 8 having L-shaped side walls composed of vertically extending portions 9 and horizontally extending portions W, and a front wall H which includes an upper panel l2. hinged to one of the vertical portions 9.

The address and stamp applying mechanism A and associated parts are mounted within the drawer element 8 between the vertically extending portions 9 of the side walls and also between lower and upper horizontal plates Eel and ltd provided along their longitudinal edges with angular flanges E69 by means of which they may be attached in any suitable manner to the wall portions 9, the plates iii? and E88 connecting and mutually bracing the wall portions 9 and completing the structure of the drawer element E.

The elements of the mechanism A are directly supported by a vertically planar transverse plate lit, the vertical edge portions of which are attached, preferably by screws ill, to the inner faces of the co-p-lanar flanges of angle brackets H2 which in turn are secured, preferably by welding, to the side wall portions 9 of the drawer element 3. The plate lib adjacent its front face supports the elements of the address and stamp applying mechanism and adjacent its rear face supports an associated motor and gearing.

The plate lid is provided with a horizontal shelf IE3 which projects forward from its front face and supports the unit (Figure 3) composed of the record car R and an associated mailing piece M, the elements of the unit in coordinated association being in cooperative relation to the elements of the mechanism A. The shelf H3 is provided on its upper face with shoulders I'M and H in right angular relation, the shoulder ild being parallel to the plate ill! and the shoulder ill; extending forward from the inner end of the shoulder lid. The shoulders li t and H5 constitute an L-shaped positioning guide for the record card to insure its proper location in cooperative relation to the elements of the mechanism A.

Access to the mechanism A for the purposes of replenishing ink, inserting a new roll of stamps, and lubrication is provided for by the hinged upper panel 52 of the drawer element front Wall ii, the panel i2 being provided on its inner face with a latch lit by which it may be held in closed position and which cooperates in the usual manner with a keeper which may consist of a flange i ta forming a part of the frame of the drawer element 3. The panel l2 has on its outer face and adjacent its free vertical edge a knob ill by means of which it may be conveniently opened and closed.

The record cards R are, as to the items which are endorsed upon them, used in relation to corresponding service cards, illustration of which herein is unnecessary but which are shown and described in detail in my said parent application, Serial No. 777,203. Each record card in its mechanical aspect and in its physically functional relation to the elements of the cooperative combination which distinguishes the invention consists of two major (outer and inner) integrally connected sections I55 and Hill delimited by a common folding line Eel. Each record. card, qua card record, has vertical blank columns headed by appropriate titles or captions and sub-divided horizontally to provide, for dating purposes, squares to be filled in by the clerk with pertinent data (all as shown and described in detail in my co-pending application, Serial No. 784,912). The section 555 has at one end a co-planar projection 658 which bears the name of the customer. The apparatus of the invention with which the record card is in physical cooperation may be used in any enterprise where systematized customer notification service is desirable. It may be assumed, by way of example, that the record card is used in establishments which serve the needs of motor car drivers, 1. e., garages, filling stations and similar establishments. The service cards, above mentioned, are filed in the pockets of the filing machine, illustration of which herein is unnecessary but which is shown and described in detail in my said parent application, Serial No. 777,203. As therein set forth the sections and I56 have certain columns which provide for the recording of the number of the pocket of the filing machine in which the corresponding service card may be filed at a time contemporaneous with the last entry on the record card.

The projection i553 constitutes an identification tab which enables the convenient selection of the record card from the cabinet in which it may be filed and its convenient removal. The section I56 has a rectangular window I59 covered by a panel 568 of suitable stencil material. The section 558 also has at its upper end an extension let to which it is connected by a transverse folding line I62. The extension I6! is provided for the protection of the panel of stencil material, for the protection of the adjoining record card, for carrying any printed instructions which may be required, and for convem'ence in effecting the removal of the record card at the completion of its ejectile movement by the address and stamp applying mechanism. When the record card is in the filing cabinet the extension I6! is folded upon the section i536 in order to protect the panel of stencil material from dust or smearing. The extension lei preferably bears upon its face which becomes its inner face when the extension is folded a coating 63 of any suitable varnish occupying a suitable rectangular area, the purpose of which is to prevent the extension [6| from adhering to the ink impregnated panel I60 and to prevent the ink adhering to said panel from seeping through the thin card board of which the extension lei is composed and smearing the surface of the section I55 of the adjacent record card. In the folded relation of the parts the section E55 protects the opposite face of the stencil panel liiil against dust and smearing.

The upper edge of the section E55 may be regarded as marked off by a printed line and the upper edge E65 of the section I56 and the folding line 562 coincide with such printed line whereby, with the parts in folded relation, the projection E58 extends as a tab beyond the upper edge of the card. The section use at its lower edge and adjacent the folding line l5! has a cutaway portion which provides a recess N55.

The mailing piece has the usual spaces for the postage stamp and address. The record cards in their mechanical aspect as a part of the unit which includes the mailing piece M have features by virtue of which they are at once coordinated to the mailing piece and to the elements of the mechanism A as Will be hereafter set forth in detail. In the use of the record cards for the stamping and addressing of mailing pieces the sections I55 and I56 are folded one upon the other with the data bearing side of the section I55 exposed. The mailing piece M (broken lines, Figure 3) is inserted between the sections I55 and I56 to the extent limited by its engagement with the meeting edges of the sections as connected along the folding line I51. In such insertion the stamp bearing portion is located in registry with the recess I68, the right angularly related edges of the mailing piece which the stamp bearing portion adjoins are respectively coincident with the meeting edges of the sections I55 and I56 (i. e., the folding line I51) and the free edge of the section I56 which extends forward from the recess I66 and the address located in contacting engagement with the meeting edges of the bearing portion is located in registry with the panel I60.

Let it be assumed that the customer is to be notified of service needed. His record card shows whether there has been any previous contact. The information supplied by the service and record cards considered in combination enables the clerk to determine the character of notification required and the identity of the particular mailing piece to be sent. The date of notification and a description of the particular mailing piece are then entered in the appropriate squares. The mailing piece M is then inserted between the folded sections I55 and I56 in the manner above described.

The unit composed of the record card and the associated mailing piece is inserted (as hereinafter described) upon the shelf I13 in immediate cooperative relation with the elements of the mechanism A through a horizontal slot I18 in the front wall of the drawer element 8 and is partially ejected (by the movable address applying elements) through an angular slot continuation I19 in the vertical wall 9 at which the slot I18 terminates, the record card extension IBI being introduced into the slot I19 when the unit is inserted upon the shelf I13. The slot I18 is formed by cutting away the lower edge of the panel I2 and may be bounded by a U-shaped reinforcing frame I80, one element of which is attached to the panel I2 and the other element of which is attached to the upper edge of the section of the front wall I I below the panel I2.

The elements of the mechanism A are normally maintained in inoperative relation whereby the elements above the shelf I13 are spaced from the shelf to provide a clearance into which the record card may be inserted. The shoulder I14 guides the record card through the machine and the movement of the record card, as guided by the shoulder, is lineally coincident with the shoulder. The record card is inserted upon the shelf I13 in a direction at right angles to the shoulder I14 and is guided in its insertion upon the shelf I13 by the shoulder I15. As thus inserted upon the shelf I13 the record card engages the finger 2I5 (to be later described in detail) and thereby initiates the operation of the motor 289 (Figure 5) with resultant successive operations of the stamp applying mechanism and the address applying mechanism, the latter also serving to move the record card in the direction of the shoulder I14 and to effect the ejectile movement of the record card, as guided by the shoulder I14, from the machine.

When the address and stamp applying mechanism is to be used the clerk moves the cabinet cover elements 3 and 4 and the drawer element 8 to open positions. The drawer element in its open position enables the insertion of the unit composed of the record card and the mailing piece into operative relation with the mechanism and enables the unit to be moved through the slot I19 to ejectile position. The open drawer element 8 also provides additional support for the open cover element I when used by the clerk as a desk in connection with the association of the mailing piece with the record card and making date entries on the record card.

The stamp applying device, indicated generally as I 8|, may be of any suitable known construction (for example as shown in Patent No. 1,877,849, issued September 20, 1932) which includes an actuating plunger I82 projecting beyond the casing I83 of the device and normally held in projected relation, the plunger I82 being pushed inward in order to cause the application of the stamp to the mailing piece and being automatically raised by its loading spring when released, all as taught in the patent above identified. The casing I83 includes a bottom plate I84 and the shelf I13 is provided with a raised platform I85 upon which the plate I84 is supported. The platform I85 provides the shoulder I15 above described and is formed with an upwardly projecting forwardly extending flange I86 parallel to the shoulder I 15. A groove I81 is formed in the inner face of the flange I86, the bottom wall of the groove being flush with the surface of the platform I85 and the upper wall of the groove being provided by a portion I88 which overhangs the platform I85 and is a part of the flange I86. The plate I10 is provided with a forwardly projecting lug I98 having its inner vertical face provided with a groove I9I which confronts and is co-planar with the groove I81, the bottom wall of the groove I9I merging with the upper face of the rib I89 which provides the shoulder I14. The stamp applying device I8I is supported directly by the platform I85, the rib I88 and the lug I98, its bottom plate I8 1 resting upon the platform I85 and upon the upper face of the rib I89 and its end edge portions fitting within the grooves I 81 and It. Thereby the stamp applying device is accurately positioned and is positively held against canting or upward displacement. The stamp applying device I8I is a self-contained unit which may be removed and replaced at will. As positioned upon the platform I85, the rib I89 and the lug I96, the stamp applying device is normally held against outward displacement by a spring finger IBIa secured to and projecting forward from the plate I10.

The address applying device includes upper and lower roller quadrants I92 and I93 mounted on shafts I9 1 and I95 respectively. The upper quadrant I 92 is provided with a facing I96 of suitable absorbent ink carrying and applying material and is movable in relation to an ink roll I81 arranged in contacting arrangement above it and at the lower end of an ink reservoir I98. The ink is viscid and the reservoir I98 is provided with a gravity operated ink forcing plunger I99 having a guide stem 298 which projects through a central opening in the cap 28I by which the upper end of the reservoir I98 is closed, the cap being freely removable from the reservoir whenever the supply of ink is to be replenished.

The reservoir I98 is carried by a supporting sleeve 262 with which it is preferably formed integral. The plate its is provided with aforwardly projecting block 2% having an opening 2% which extends through the plate lit and in which the sleeve 252 is fitted, the sleeve being secured by a screw 2535 tapped into the block 2&3. The sleeve 2&2 provides a bearing for a shaft 2% which carries. the inking roller idi, the reservoir Itil having in its bottom a diametrical opening which is cocupied by the inking roller, and the sleeve 2&2 having a bottom opening ill through which the inking roller is. exposed for contacting engagement with the absorbent facing ESE of the quadrant I92.

The quadrant its is mounted below the shelf H3 and a marginal recess 2538 is formed, in the shelf to accommodate the peripheral portion of the quadrant L93 during its operative movement, such peripheral portion in its operative phase being at least flush with, and preferably slightly above, the upper surface of the shelf I13. The quadrants 592 and E93 are normally in a position in which their adjacent ends are spaced, thereby to provide for the convenient introduction between them of the record card with an interposed mailing piece. The quadrants H92 and its are operatively movable through a full circle, the quadrant E92 being movable clockwise and the quadrant Ids being movable counter clockwise. The quadrants are initially so positioned that their peripheral surfaces will not engage the record card until after the operation of the stamp applying device has been completed at which time the quadrants seize the record card R and cooperate with the panel icii of stencil material to effect the addressing operation. In such operation the quadrants W2 and i533 also move the record card to partially ejected position. When the ejectile movement of the record card has been completed the quadrants will have returned to their normal inactive positions and will have released the record card. The record card is guided in its ejectile movement by the shoulder Its extension iiii at all times projects through the slot extension Hi9. In its partially ejected position the record card projects through 1 the slot extension lie and the extension till may be readily grasped by the operator in effecting the complete removal of the record card from the drawer element 8.

The stamp and address applying devices are operated by a motor Ellis through suitable gearing designated generally 2E8. The motor 2% is normally idle and is operative only during the period when the record card with its interposed mailing piece is in association with the mecha- A, the operation of the motor being automatically initiated by the record card and being continued throughout the period of movement of the record card as effected by the quadrants 92 and 93.

The circuit of the motor 2% (Figure is controlled by a normally open switch designated genorally as 2% 5, preferably of the micro-type, which is closed, and held closed, by the record card. The switch 2H carries an externally mounted leaf spring connected to a movable contact element 2 it within the switch casing. The spring 2 i2 normally assumes a position in which the contact 2i-3 is disengaged from its companion stationary contacts 2%. At its free end the spring i2 carries an upwardly projecting finger Eli extending through an opening 255 in the shelf H3 and communicating with a recess 25? in the shoulder H5. The finger projects beyond the upper face of the shelf lit and into the path of d the record card as inserted into operative relation between the normally inactive elements of the mechanism A. The record card is inserted upon the shelf I13 in a direction at right angles to its path of movement through the machine as prescribed by the shoulder lid and in such insertion its folded edge engages the finger Eli; and moves it into the recess 2 l l, the finger 2 I5 thereby efiecting the inward movement of the spring 2Iii and the engagement of the contact element 2 i 3 with the contacts 2 i l with resultant closure of the circuit of the motor 2&9. This circuit includes lines 2 i8 and 2 i9 connected to the respective power lines it and ii and, in series, connected by the motor features and terminating in the contacts 2E4.

The block 283 is provided with an opening 222 which extends through the plate Ill} and in which the shaft I90. is journalled. The plate IliI is also provided with a forwardly projecting block 22I located adjacent the underface of the shelf I13 and in vertical alinement with the block 233, the block 22! being formed with an opening 222 which extends through the plate iii? and provides a journal for the shaft I155. The quadrants I92 and we are mounted fast upon the portions of the shafts I34 and its which project forward beyond the blocks 2% and 22I. The shafts I94 and I are symmetrically located with reference to the shelf Ii3 and project inwardly beyond the plate ilil.

The plunger I82 of the stamp applying device iti is automatically operated, that is to say depressed and released for return movement, by a vertically movable slide 223 having at its upper end a forwardly projecting arm 224 which overhangs and engages the upper end of the plunger 532 (the arm 225 being shown in plan in Figure 11 in dot and dash lines). The slide 223 is movable in a vertical slot 225 formed in the plate Ili and open to its upper edge, the slide being guided in its vertical movement and held against displacement from the plate. For these purposes the slide is formed on its side face with grooves 226 into which the portions of the plate I'lil adjacent the vertical walls of the slot 225 project.

The plate l'ifi forms a wall of a gear casing 22?, the other wall of which is provided by a plate 22$ located in spaced relation behind, and supported by, the plate lit, the plate 228 in turn providing direct support for the motor 259. For the support of the plate 228 the plate HE! is formed with a number of suitably located rearwardly projecting lugs 22% to which the plate 228 is attached by screws 23s.

The casing of the motor 2% is provided at its ides with angle brackets 23I which are attached by screws 232 to the plate 225 adjacent its rear face. The projecting end of the shaft 233 of the motor 2&9 carries a worm 235 which meshes with a worm wheel 235 mounted on a shaft 236. The reduction gearing which includes the worm and the worm wheel 235 is otherwise mounted in the gear casing 22? and its various elements serve for the operation of the quadrants 592 and operative phase; The slide 223 is provided at its lower end and within the gear casing with a laterally projecting roller 2 12 which is engaged by the active surface of the cam 24!. As viewed in Figure 8 (broken lines) the rotation of the cam B ll is clockwise and in such rotation the cam, acting on the roller 242, depresses the slide 223 with resultant depression of the plunger H22 in its stamp affixing operation. When this operaion has been completed the cam 2M passes beyond the roller 262 whereupon the plunger N32 is raised by its spring (not shown) and as it moves to its upper position raises the slide 223, returning it to its normal elevated position in which the roller 242 is positioned for another engagement by the cam 24!.

At the inner side of the plate lit the shafts 594. and 195 carry meshing pinions 243 and 2 located within the gear casing 22'! and of equal diameters whereby the shafts will be driven at equal speeds and in opposite directions. The upper shaft $94 also carries a pinion M of the same diameter as, and in mesh with, the pinion 239 which, therefore, serves not only for the operation of the cam 2%! but also, through the gears 255, 243 and 2st, for the operation of the quadrant shafts ass and I85.

The shaft 2G6 which carries the inking roller IQ! projects beyond the inner side of the plate lit and carries a small pinion 2% in mesh with and driven by the pinion 243. Thereby the pinion 243 in addition to rotating the shaft Hi4 and effecting the operation of the quadrant Hi2 also, during each operation of the quadrant, causes a number of revolutions of the inking roller is? whereby the ink will be effectively and uniformly distributed upon the absorbent facing I98 of the quadrant H92 during each operation of the quadrant.

Summarizing the operative characteristics of the machine: The stamp and address applying mechanisms are operative, cyclically, by a motor which is normally at rest and their active elements are normally spaced above the shelf 13 to permit the insertion of the record card upon the shelf in a direction at right angles to its path of movement through the machine as prescribed by the shoulder I'M. Upon such insertion the folded edge of the record card trips the finger H5 and initiates the operation of the motor which, through the gearing described, effects the successive operations of the stamp applying mechanism and the address applying mechanism, the latter by direct cooperation with the record card feeding the unit composed of the record card and its interposed mailing piece through the machine and effecting the ejectile movement of the unit. When the record card passes beyond the finger M5 the spring 2H2 automatically resets the finger and disconnects the motor, the finger being so located that when the motor is thus disconnected the operating parts have returned precisely to their normal positions as above described.

I claim:

1. Mechanism for applying an address and a postage stamp to a mailing piece fitted within a stencil bearing holder, comprising, in combination, a horizontal supporting shelf for the holder, a reciprocatorily movable stamp applying element located above the shelf and having an operating cycle of movement which includes its movement toward the shelf and in the discharge of its stamp applying function and its movement away from the shelf into an inoperative position in which it is normally maintained, a pair of companion roller elements located respectively above and below the shelf and cooperative with one another in the operations of printing an address upon the mailing piece and effecting the ejectile movement of the holder, the upper roller element being in the form of a quadrant and having an operating cycle of a revolution, the upper roller element being provided with an ink applying feature, the shelf having a recess through which the surface of the lower roller element is exposed for cooperation with the holder, the shelf also having in right angular relation a transverse guide shoulder and a longitudinal guide shoulder, said guide shoulders being cooperative with the holder, a motor, and gearing operated by the motor for simultaneously moving the stamp applying element and the roller elements through their operating cycles, the printing operation of the roller elements succeeding the operation of the stamp applying element and the roller elements in their printing operation also cooperating to effect the e ectile movement of the holder along the shelf in the direction prescribed by the longitudinal guide shoulder.

2. Mechanism for applying an address and a postage stamp to a mailing piece fitted within a stencil bearing holder, comprising, in combination, a horizontal supporting shelf for the holder, a reciprocatorily movable stamp applying element located above the shelf and having an operating cycle of movement which includes its movement toward the shelf in the discharge of its stamp applying function and its movement away from the shelf into an inoperative position in which it is normally maintained, a pair of companion roller elements located respectively above and below the shelf and cooperative with. one another in the operations of printing an address upon the mailing piece and effecting the ejectile movement of the holder, the upper roller element being in the form of a quadrant and having an operating cycle of a revolution, the upper roller element being provided with an ink applying feature, the shelf having a recess through which the: surface of the lower roller element is exposed for cooperation with the holder, the roller elements in cooperative relation grasping the holder and simultaneously effecting the printing operation and the eiectile movement of the holder along the supporting element, a motor, and gearing oper-- ated by the motor for simultaneously moving the stamp applying element and the roller elements through their operating cycles, the printing operation of the roller elements succeeding the operation of the stamp applying element and the roller elements in their printing operation also cooperating to effect the ejectile movement of the holder along the shelf.

3. Mechanism as set forth in claim 2 wherein the motor element is electrically driven and is controlled by a normally open switch having a movably mounted actuating finger normally projecting into the path of the holder as it is initially placed upon the shelf, the finger thereby being movable by the holder into position to close the circuit of the motor and returning to its normal position when it is released by the holder in the course of its ejectile movement.

EVERT F. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,216,363 Richmond et al. Feb. 20, 1917 1,949,158 Gay Feb. 27, 1934 Certificate of Correction Patent N 0. 2,532,366 December 5, 1950 EVERT F. JOHNSON It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 1, line 34, for the word address read addressed; column 5, lines 17 and 18, strike out located in contacting engagement with the meeting edges of the;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, so that the same may conform to therecord of the case in the Patent Office. Signed and sealed thls 30th day of January, A. D. 1951.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Oommz'ssz'oner of Patents. 

